Tony Abbott chooses David Cameron over Australian troops

Share via

Tony Abbott said he did not want to be jet lagged when meeting David CameronMark Graham

2 of 2

Julia Gillard had invited Mr Abbott to visit troops in Afghanistan at the weekendRaymond Vance

Sophie TedmansonSydney

Last updated at 5:42AM, October 5 2010

Australia’s Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, has been criticised for skipping a
visit to troops in Afghanistan in order to stay well rested for a meeting
with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, at the Conservative
conference in Birmingham.

Mr Abbott - a London-born self-confessed “incorrigible Anglophile” - said that
he turned down an invitation to visit Afghanistan with the Australian Prime
Minister, Julia Gillard, for a show of bipartisan support over the weekend
because he did not want to be jet lagged for his meeting with Mr Cameron.

“I thought it was important to do this trip justice, and I didn’t want